The Oscars are tomorrow night, and as usual it's filled with a number of very good films that have been given a major push by Harvey Weinstein. Nobody creates superstars quite like Harvey and The Weinstein Company, and he may have just found the film he'll be backing for next year's Academy Awards.
Weinstein has picked up the rights to Mandela: The Long Walk to Freedom, a biopic that has the awesome Idris Elba playing South African civil rights leader Nelson Mandela. Directed by Justin Chadwick, with his The First Grader star Naomie Harris as Winnie Mandela, the film is based on Nelson Mandela's 1995 autobiography chronicling his early life, rise to prominence, and imprisonment.
Best Actor, anyone? I think many of us have been expecting/hoping Elba would get recognized some day, but this may be the best shot of his career. Even if the movie isn't all that great, and let's face it a lot of Mandela movies don't measure up (lookin' at you, Invictus!!), the Weinsteins will make sure it gets noticed by the right people.
Also, the sequel to 1999's The Best Man has not only gained a release date but a new title befitting of its release schedule. Malcolm D. Lee's The Best Man Holiday has been slotted with a November 15th date, putting it right around Thanksgiving. The entire cast from the first film is back with Taye Diggs, Nia Long, Morris Chestnut, Harold Perrineau, Terrence Howard, Sanaa Lathan, Monica Calhoun, Melissa De Sousa and Regina Hall starring.
